By Andria Cheng

The retail giant on Tuesday pleaded guilty in three federal criminal cases brought by the Department of Justice and a related civil case brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency involving how it had transported and disposed of hazardous waste at retail stores across the U.S. and for its failure to properly handle pesticides returned by customers.

The company
/quotes/zigman/245476/quotes/nls/wmtWMTwill pay a penalty of about $81.6 million and a combined total of more than $110 million including previous actions brought by the states of California and Missouri for the same violations.

DOJ said that before 2006, Wal-Mart didn’t have a program in place to train employees on how to handle hazardous waste, leading to the waste being dumped in municipal trash bins or poured into local sewer systems and transported without proper documentation.

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“This tough financial penalty holds Wal-Mart accountable for its reckless and illegal business practices that threatened both the public and the environment,” said Tammy Dickinson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. “Truckloads of hazardous products, including more than 2 million pounds of pesticides, were improperly handled under Wal-Mart’s contract. Today’s criminal fine should send a message to companies of all sizes that they will be held accountable to follow federal environmental laws.”

Wal-Mart acknowledged the plea agreements in a separate statement, adding that these incidents “occurred years ago.” It added no specific environmental impact has been alleged and said the company has since built comprehensive environmental programs that remain in place.

“Walmart has a comprehensive and industry-leading hazardous waste program,” said Phyllis Harris, senior vice president and chief compliance officer, Walmart US. The company said it now has a team of 50 dedicated environmental compliance staff with elevated management authority and said it’s been training and setting up policies and guidelines on how to handle hazardous waste in each of its Walmart and Sam’s Club locations. It said it’s cut hazardous waste through its environmental sustainability moves by more than 30% since 2010.

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About Behind the Storefront

Behind the Storefront is a blog about all things retail. It’s aimed at investors, shoppers and anyone else with a passion for learning about what drives consumer behavior. Hosted by Andria Cheng, Behind the Storefront will cover the business, brands and shopping behavior that’s behind some of the biggest companies, and largest employers, in the world. You can reach Andria at Acheng@marketwatch.com.